News

Patrick O'Sullivan scored two goals as the Oilers snapped a seven-game losing skid, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Wednesday night. "It's tough coming to the rink every day when you're losing games, tonight was a full 60 minute effort and we got the result we wanted," O'Sullivan said.

"It's a good feeling, now we don't have to think about the fact that we've lost a number of games in a row. Now we can think about the things that we did well. We're in a difficult spot right now, it's desperation time, really, for our team. Everyone realizes that."

Gilbert Brule had the other goal for the Oilers (16-20-4) who also snapped a seven-game slide on home ice.

"It was a long time coming," said Oilers head coach Pat Quinn, who faced his former team for the first time since being let go by Toronto following the 2005-06 season. "We probably should have won four of those seven games we lost but we always found ways not to do it. And you could tell our guys got scared again after that one goal. But I'm glad we got this win. We needed it for a lot of reasons."

Phil Kessel had the lone goal for the Leafs (14-18-9), who have lost four of their last five games.

"We knew they were going to be a desperate team with how things have been going for them of late," Kessel said. "We were in that spot at the beginning of the year. They took it to us right from the start. We didn't get many shots and didn't play our game.

"They played harder than us tonight. We are a forechecking team, that's how we get our chances, and we didn't do enough of that to sustain some pressure."

Edmonton got on the board first with just 53 seconds to play in the first period when Brule atoned for a giveaway earlier on the shift by blasting a shot past Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala.

The Oilers made it a 2-0 game on the power play midway through the second thanks to a fluke goal as O'Sullivan's attempt to send a backhand pass through the crease caromed off of the skate of Toronto's Ian White and into the net.

"Sometimes you get the bounces on your side and sometimes they are against you," Toskala said. "There is not much you can do about it."

O'Sullivan's second goal of the game was much more legitimate than his first as he slipped past a pair of defenders at the Toronto blue-line for a power play breakaway and made a nice move to slip the puck through Toskala's legs to make it 3-0 Edmonton.

"We earned it tonight," said Oilers alternate captain Steve Staios. "We've had games where we've outplayed and out-chanced teams before and not got it, so it's a good feeling."

Toronto ended Deslauriers' shutout bid with just four minutes left as Kessel put a power play rebound into the Edmonton net.

The Oilers play again on Thursday night in Calgary and the Maple Leafs will also suit up against the Flames in their next game on Saturday.

Notes: It was the first of two games between the two teams this season. Last season the series was split with each team winning on the road... It was Edmonton Oilers head coach Pat Quinn's first game against the Maple Leafs since he was fired by the club following the 2005-06 season... The injury-riddled Oilers may have two players back in the fold soon as forwards Fernando Pisani (ulcerative colitis) and Mike Comrie (mono) have both begun skating again... Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid dressed after having X-rays to ensure he hadn't broken any bones in his hand after a spirited punch-up with Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames on Monday... Leafs forwards John Mitchell (knee) and Viktor Stalberg (upper-body injury) are still estimated at being about a week away from returning to the line-up.

Holland had been left in Toronto as the Maple Leafs opened a three-game western road trip in late November and has not suited up for the Leafs since Nov. 26. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward was a healthy scratch in 17 of the Leafs first 25 games this season.

In eight games, Holland has one assist and a minus-2 rating while averaging 10:43 in ice time a night. Holland is on a one-year, $1.3 million contract this season, and according to CapFriendly, is owed $881,111 for the remainder of the season.

"Peter is a big, solid centerman with good NHL experience," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said in a statement. "We look forward to having him join our team."

Acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in November 2013, the Caledon, Ontario native appeared in 174 games with the Leafs, over parts of four seasons, scoring 25 goals and 63 points.

The 25-year-old also played a role in the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies reaching a seventh game of the conference finals during the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs.

For the Leafs, the move gives general manager Lou Lamoriello another contract spot to work with. Prior to the deal, Toronto had 48 contracts – two shy of the maximum of 50.

Friday’s move gives the Leafs the flexibility to sign goaltender Karri Ramo to a contract for the remainder of the season. The 30-year-old signed a professional tryout with the Marlies on Tuesday and made 33 saves in 3-2 loss to the Utica Comets on Wednesday night.

Since waiving goaltender Jhonas Enroth on Tuesday, and assigning him to the Marlies, the Leafs are looking for a suitable veteran presence behind Frederik Andersen and Ramo could fill the void.

The trade with the Coyotes also gives Lamoriello roster flexibility to activate forward Josh Leivo off non-roster injury reserve. Leivo has yet to play this season due to a lower body injury. The 23-year-old played five games with the Marlies earlier in the season as part of a conditioning assignment, but was deemed not ready to return to NHL action with the Leafs.

Blackhawks emergency backup Eric Semborski gets his own rookie card

News

Blackhawks emergency backup Eric Semborski gets his own rookie card

Eric Semborski landed himself the opportunity of a lifetime when he strapped on the pads as an emergency backup for the Blackhawks, and now Topps has commemorated the moment with a Semborski trading card.

Eric Semborski’s dream came true when he stepped on the ice as an NHL goaltender, albeit an emergency backup, on Dec. 3, and now he’s got an incredible piece of memorabilia to show for it.

Just days after the 23-year-old made his rookie debut, trading card company Topps has unveiled the official Eric Semborski rookie card. That’s right: the 23-year-old has his very own trading card. The card is part of Topps’ NOW series, which features milestone or memorable moments and are made available shortly after the achievement.

Semborski’s stint as the Blackhawks emergency goaltender came due to regular starting netminder Corey Crawford was sent to hospital to undergo an appendectomy. The Blackhawks were scrambling to find a replacement for Crawford, and a backup for Scott Darling, when they started asking around to find an emergency amateur netminder to fill in.

Semborski, a former goaltender at Temple University, was working with children at the Flyers’ practice facility when he was called to sign on for emergency duty. Hilariously, Semborski wore a Blackhawks No. 50 jersey — which most will recognize as Crawford’s number — when he took the ice for warmup. Of the chance to stop NHL shots in warmup, Semborski said it was the best moment of his life.

Possibly the only thing that could have made the moment better was if Semborski actually got into the game and, as it turns out, that was very nearly the case. Post-game, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said that had the Flyers scored on the empty net to stretch their lead in the Saturday afternoon contest, he would have thrown Semborski into the net for the final minute of the outing.

As for the card, there’s no chance it will be worth anything near what a Connor McDavid rookie card will be worth in a decade, but it’s certainly a nice piece of merchandise for the one-day NHL netminder.

News

ECHL defenseman Anthony Calabrese is “lucky to be alive” after a “careless, reckless” hit, and Tyler Murovich, who delivered the blow, has been given a 12-game suspension as a first-time offender.

There are few plays scarier than seeing a player hit from behind and sent headfirst into the boards. That kind of play is made that much harder to watch when knowing the severity of the injury suffered.

During an ECHL contest on Nov. 24 between the Norfolk Admirals and Atlanta Gladiators, ECHL veteran Tyler Murovich delivered an incredibly dangerous shove to the back of Anthony Calabrese, a 24-year-old defenseman who’s only 12 games into his ECHL career.

The result of the hit was frightening. Calabrese was left laying face down on the ice, near motionless. The Admirals rearguard would eventually be placed on a stretcher, taken from the ice and transported to hospital.

That may seem harsh to some given that Murovich is a first-time offender, but given the severity of Calabrese’s injury, it actually seems like a somewhat light punishment.

As a result of the hit, Calabrese suffered broken C7 and T1 vertebrae. In simpler terms, he broke both his neck and his back. Oh, and he also punctured his lung. In fact, Calabrese told The Virginian-Pilot’s Jim Hodges that doctors told the young center that he’s “lucky to be alive.”

“It was a miracle, and they say I’m going to make a full recovery,” Calabrese told Hodges. “It’s going to be a long road, but I’d rather be alive than be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.”

What helped Calabrese escape with his life, he told Hodges, was advice he had gotten early in his career from a high school coach. Calabrese was taught that if he was ever going into the boards head first to lift his chin and turn to the side in an attempt to avoid taking the brunt of the impact with the top of his head.

“That’s honestly the only thing that registered in my mind when I was going in: at the last minute, pick my head up,” Calabrese told Hodges. “I remember picking my head up and turning it to the right.”

Thankfully, doctors told Calabrese that he can eventually return to the ice and that the injuries suffered from the hit won’t cost him his career. His spinal cord, he told Hodges, wasn’t damaged due to the hit. And, as hard as it may be to believe, doctors said it was the “best possible break” in a situation such as Calabrese’s.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

News

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.